IEM Katowice 2024 preview

Between the RMR qualifiers and the Spring BLAST Premier Groups, most of the top Counter-Strike 2 teams have played several official matches in the 2024 season. They should already be shaking off the dust as the first S-tier tournament, IEM Katowice 2024, approaches.

IEM Katowice is one of the most anticipated tournaments organized by ESL and serves as the initial step in the competitive ladder of 2024. As one of the most prestigious titles in Counter-Strike, IEM Katowice offers a huge prize pool of $1 million and guarantees the winner an invitation to IEM Cologne and the BLAST Premier World Finals. Considering that global rankings are far from being finalized as teams are still adapting to CS2 and the meta, you wouldn’t want to miss this Polish event.

IEM Katowice 2024 format and teams

IEM Katowice 2024 is divided into three stages: Play-In, Group Stage, and Playoffs. A total of 24 teams will compete for the trophy, but only six will earn the right to play in front of a crowd at the Spodek Arena in February.

The Play-In stage will feature 16 teams divided into a double-elimination bracket. These teams have qualified for the first stage of IEM Katowice based on their regional rankings in ESL. Eight teams will advance from the Play-In bracket and join the eight invited teams in the Group Stage.

The remaining 16 teams will compete in another double-elimination bracket within two groups, and only three teams from each group will progress to test themselves in the Playoffs on the main stage. The final bracket, but with no room for error, will determine who rises above all to claim the Katowice trophy and etch their names in CS history.

Below, we have provided a full list of invited teams and the stage of IEM Katowice 2024 from which they will begin their journey.

Prize money IEM Katowice 2024

Along with a $400,000 prize pool for the tournament champion, the winner will also receive a direct invitation to ESL’s second major event in 2024, IEM Cologne, as well as the BLAST Premier World Finals. But that’s not all, because they will also earn a point in the race for the Intel Grand Slam, where a team needs to win four top-tier events before anyone else to claim an additional $1 million.

Tournament schedule

Play-In

January 31

8:30am

• Cloud9 vs. Rebels
• Eternal Fire vs. BetrBoom

9:30am

• Heroic vs. Astralis
• ENCE vs. BIG

10:30am

• FURIA vs. The MongolZ
• Spirit vs. Apeks

11:30am

• GamerLegion vs. M80
• Rooster vs. Virtus.pro

Group stage